Kidoodle.TV Saves the Snow Day!

I have always had a strict TV policy. I despise anything with a laugh track, although my kids tell me that my beloved I Love Lucy had a laugh track, but I beg to differ since I believe people were genuinely laughing at her. Any show with forced laughter, with disrespect to the adults, with borderline inappropriate language or kids who outsmart the adults by cheating or smart mouths, well, those are shows I don't let my kids watch.

Ergo, the TV shows that my kids watch are kinda eclectic. We've got old shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, and Mary Tyler Moore. I've been known to direct them to The Carol Burnett Show, and both Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons are well watched. That's not to say that they don't watch kids shows, but I try to steer them in the direction of some of the classics.

And then we had snow day after snow day after snow day and, well, you know what they say about best laid intentions and all? Yeah. That was me. Turns out, it's easy to be up on your high horse but it's much more difficult to work from your front room office when they are arguing over whose turn it is to play with what toy and you tell them just to watch tv, and you don't care WHAT show they watch if you could please, for the love of God, get through the three back to back conference calls you have scheduled.

Ahem. Enter Kidoodle.TV, the saving grace for my recent spate of snow days. Kidoodle.TV is a safe, ad free (holla if you've seen your last Rainbow Loom commercial!) streaming video service that you can customize just for your kids. When you create a profile, you chose your child's age--and you can create profiles for up to five kids--and you choose the content you want your child to watch. With older shows like Inspector Gadget, Pound Puppies and The Game of Life, there's something for everyone. Even my 14 year old, who is much older than the target, was interested in the National Geographic episodes (truth be told, so was I. Shh!).

One great thing that Kidoodle.TV offers is a parental time limit. It automatically shuts down at the end of your alloted time - unless your child watches you create the password and stealthily goes into the profile and changes it. Note to self: be more stealthy yourself. Another benefit: it's less than $5 a month.

My girls, ages 10 and 11, were enamored with the idea of their own profiles, and their own ability to choose and watch without the other sister putting in her 2 cents. They immediately went to different computers, popped on headphones, and logged in.

And I was all of a sudden surrounded by quiet. Everyone was occupied, and I didn't have to worry that they might see something inappropriate or get a bad case of the gimmies (thanks, commercials!) or have yet another argument over what to watch (thanks, kids 14 months apart!). They just...watched.

I also love the fact that I can stream the content on my iPad, so when we are waiting for ballet class/music lessons/rehearsal pick up time, no one has to "borrow" my phone to watch a video on that may or may not be affiliated with something inappropriate--I mean, for real, have you seen the comments on some of those videos? Not what I want my kids reading, that's for sure. My ten year old has become a fan of Jacob Two-Two and my eleven year old loves Critter Cam. They have set a goal to watch all of each show, and I think they'll succeed.

I can see that Kidoodle.TV is going to be very useful this summer, as we are traveling to visit my dad--can anyone say "car ride"?

Kidoodle.TV is giving away 3 iPad minis (totally so your kid can watch Kidoodle.TV) during March and April--enter here!

Would you like to try Kidoodle.TV out for your sanity--wait, I mean your kids enjoyment? Use this code BLOGHER25 to get 25% off code for a 1 year subscription to Kidoodle.TV. This coupon code expires June 30, 2014

Want to win a $100 Visa gift card? Leave a comment here answering this question and one winner will be randomly selected: "What devices do you kids use? Do they have their own or share with the whole family?”

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

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This giveaway is open to US or Canada (excluding Quebec) Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

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About Me

Carmen Staicer is a whirlwind of energy and execution, who never sleeps and drinks way too much coffee. She works from home as Social Media Programs Manager for SheKnows, and is the mom to six kids, most of whom play instruments, sing or dance and all of whom are much smarter than she will ever be. In other words, her house is never ever quiet or still. A concentration of asthma, food allergies, spectrum disorders and learning disabilities means that she spends an awful lot of time second guessing herself and Dr. Googling, as well as learning to cook everything the family might like to eat. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, boxing (she has her Black Belt in Muay Thai), sleeping, exploring coffee shops, photography, ballet class and cooking. She excels in being a smart mouth and has her major in sarcasm, with a dual minor in BS studies and avoiding laundry.